More About
This Textbook

Overview

The British Slavery Abolition Act of 1834 provided a grant of u20 million to compensate the owners of West Indian slaves for the loss of their human 'property.' In this first comparative analysis of the impact of the award on the colonies, Mary Butler focuses on Jamaica and Barbados, two of Britain's premier sugar islands. The Economics of Emancipation examines the effect of compensated emancipation on colonial credit, landownership, plantation land values, and the broader spheres of international trade and finance. Butler also brings the role and status of women as creditors and plantation owners into focus for the first time. Through her analysis of rarely used chancery court records, attorneys' letters, and compensation returns, Butler underscores the fragility of the colonial economies of Jamaica and Barbados, illustrates the changing relationship between planters and merchants, and offers new insights into the social and political history of the West Indies and Britain.

What People Are Saying

From the Publisher

A clearly argued work that has finally indicated the complex array of forces endemic to the emancipation process as imperial economics and politics in action.--Hilary McD. Beckles, University of the West Indies

This is an important book that adds considerably to our knowledge of the tangled history of British abolitionism as well as of the economic, social, and political history of the British West Indies.--Colonial Latin American Historical Review

Butler breaks new ground. . . . This is a painstakingly researched, clearly written, and valuable contribution to British colonial history.--American Historical Review

An admirable study and a fine addition to the exciting new scholarship that has been chronicling the profund transformation wrought during the transition from slavery to freedom in the Americas.--New West Indian Guide

Carefully crafted and meticulously researched, [this] study illuminates the ties that bound planters to business interests in Britain and makes a sound contribution to current debates about transitions from slavery to freedom in the Americas.--David Barry Gaspar, Duke University

This book has a number of strengths. Its explication of the actual workings of the compensation award, including how the value of slave property was determined, is clear and lucid. Its unraveling of the complex financial dealings between West Indian planters and British sugar merchants is exemplary. And its analysis of the 'macro-economic' effects of the compensation award upon the West Indian economies is persuasive. . . . This study deals with so many important issues to scholars of New World slavery and emancipation that it is well worth sitting down and grappling with.--The Americas

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.

- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.